I greet you in the Blessed name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Our text for tonight's message is taken from Acts 19 verse 21-41. Let us first look to the Lord in prayer.
Our Father in heaven, we thank thee for how thou has brought us together to unite our hearts to pray. We thank thee for every opportunity thou has given to us that we may come together to worship thee, for we acknowledge that thou alone are worthy of our adoration and worship. And so we have come tonight to sing praises today and also to submit our prayers and supplications onto the one who will hear and will answer. We thank thee for how thou has answered our prayers in time pass. Thou Art so gracious; forgive us of all our sins, sins that we have committed against thee in our speech, in our thoughts, in our Deeds, cleanse Us by the Precious Blood of thy only begotten son. And now even as we come to look into a portion of Thy word, as we are studying through the book of Acts, we have come to Acts 19 verse 21-41. Oh Lord, teach us, help us to learn, help us to draw valuable lessons that we may apply into our lives. And we pray that we will learn from thy Faithful Servants in the scriptures, the Apostle Paul and his co-laborers. We also ask of thee to teach us, remind us always of thy infallible and inner word. We pray and commit this time into thy Loving Hands in Jesus name we pray amen.
A strong church is a bold church, and the only way to be a bold and courageous church is through trials, suffering, and afflictions. Remember our Lord Jesus himself said this, that the church is to be the salt and light of this world. We all know that salt would stink if it is rubbed into wounds, light would expose the evil Deeds of Darkness. So if the church were to Faithfully be the salt and light, inevitably there will be a hostile response. That was what happened to the early church. When the disciples Faithfully went out there to preach the gospel, whether in Jerusalem, Antioch, Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, or Corinth, they faced persecutions. Therefore it was no surprise when the persecutions came to the disciples at Ephesus. The persecution came in the form of a riot. This is what we are going to learn in today's passage. The title of our message is the riot at Ephesus. Before the writer of Acts focus on the riots, he first talked about the Apostle Paul's desire. According to verse 21, after Paul had finished his three years of ministry at Ephesus, he purposed in the spirit, which means he prayerfully decided in his heart to go to Jerusalem through Macedonia and Achaia. It is interesting why Paul chose to go to Jerusalem through Macedonia and Achaia. Because firstly they were in opposite directions. If you look at the map, it is like you going to Philip Island but through the Great Ocean Road, totally opposite directions. Secondly, Paul himself had visited Macedonia and Achaia before coming to Ephesus. So why did he choose to visit them again? Well, Paul had a specific plan, and it Reveals His deep concern for the churches. You see, the church at Jerusalem was very poor. The Believers were persecuted, ostracized, even by their own families, lost their jobs, many would have lost their only source of income, they were in financial need. In order to meet that need, Paul decided to go to the Gentile churches which he had founded in Macedonia and Achaia, which were relatively large, so that he might take a collection or love offering before returning to Jerusalem. So it was for that purpose, you can read about that in 1st and 2nd Corinthians. But he had another purpose in mind, if the Gentile churches were to support the Jerusalem Church which was primarily Jewish, that would certainly build up the unity and bond between the Jews and Gentiles because they were hostile towards one another at that time. That was the wisdom of the Apostle Paul. Take a moment and consider this, if one day you are in desperate need of financial support, you struggle to put bread and butter on the table, and then all of a sudden the support comes to you, you'll be very grateful right? You'll be thinking that the support must have come from your parents or your children or your siblings or your friends, but instead, they came from people whom you least expected, people whom you were always careful, doubtful, and suspicious, or people whom you have never met before. That will surely turn your heart around right? That was the situation between the Jews and the Gentiles. So that was Paul's desire. But even then visiting Jerusalem was not his ultimate met go for he said in the last part of verse 21 after I have been there I must also see Rome. Rome was the imperial capital. Paul's desire was to visit that City to preach the gospel there. So from this time onwards all the way until the end of the book of Acts, Paul's mind was set on Rome. Eventually, he will get to Rome but not in the way he had envisioned, not in the way he had planned, not as a missionary. He will be sent to Rome as a prisoner. My friends, it is important for all of us to plan. There's a saying that goes something like this, if you fail to plan you plan to fail. You must plan what course to take in the University, how to finish your course, you must plan where to work, when to get married, when to buy a house, when to retire, most importantly where to serve the Lord. But all of us must understand that not only Our Lives, even our plans are in God's hands. We can plan all we want, we can set aside money for our retirement, we can plan to go for holidays, we can plan all kinds of things, but the Lord may say to us, my son, my daughter tonight you are coming home. Indeed, man proposes God disposes, he's the only one who disposes even our plans. So Paul planned to go to Macedonia followed by Jerusalem and ultimately to Rome, he will get to Rome but he will be a prisoner. In the meantime verse 22, so he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a season. We are all very familiar with Timothy, Paul's beloved spiritual son, but we do not know anything about Erastus, whether this is the same person as mentioned in Romans 16:23 or 2 Timothy 4:20, we do not know for sure. However, Paul stayed behind after he sent these two Co-laborers ahead of him. The reason why he delayed his travel plans most likely would be there were troubles lurking at Ephesus. As the leader, if he knew that there would be troubles and soon there will be a riot, he would rather stay behind. The riot was started because of the success of the Gospel. Our first point is the cunning instigator of the riot. Verse 23, and the same time there arose no small stir about that way. Around that time, there was a big commotion about that way, which was a reference to Christianity or the Christians or the Christian faith. Perhaps this name was derived
from our lord Jesus description of himself that he is the way the truth and the life. So this name will be used as a reference to point to Christianity. The word fall in verse 24 tells us the reason for the big commotion. Behind every trouble most of the time there will be an instigator or instigators, people who will go around to stir up trouble. Look at verse 24, for a certain man named Demetrius, a silver smith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain onto the cross man. His business was making shrines, silver shrines of the goddess Diana, another name for Diana would be Artemis. Most likely he would try to gather purchases or people who would want to buy shrines, and then he would contract the jobs to the Crossman. So he brought a lot of income to the Crossman. He was a prominent businessman, made a fortune out of idolatry. At that time the worship of Diana was widespread throughout the Roman Empire, especially at Ephesus because at Ephesus there was this impressive temple of Diana, which was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. You can imagine thousands and thousands of pilgrims and visitors who flock to the city of Ephesus to visit the temple. In a way, the worship of Diana played an essential part of the Ephesian economy. But as Paul preached the gospel more and more people believed in Christianity. When more and more people believed in Christianity they gave up idolatry, that posed a problem to Demetrius. So he gathered all the Crossman as well as other workers in the same industry and he said to them in verse 25, s we know that by this craft we have our wealth, our prosperity depended on this business. And the gospel is threatening our business, we must do something. His main concern was about his business, his main focus was about his money, and nothing about the truth. As a cunning man he went on to say in verse 26, moreover ye see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul have persuaded and turned away much people, saying that there be no Gods which are made with hands. This Christian preacher Paul was not only a threat to our business here at Ephesus but everywhere he went he successfully turned the people away from idols and he said that the idols were not Gods because they were made with hands. Verse 27, so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at not but also that the Temple of the Great Goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed whom all Asia and the world worshippeth. Not only our business will be affected but he had also caused the worship of Diana to be despised and if Diana was despised then she would lose her majesty and if no one will come to visit the temple then no one would come to Ephesus the whole economy would suffer you can see how this instigator was so cunning he started off with the livelihood their survival their only source of income then he moved on to talk about the worship of Diana and finally how the entire economy of Ephesus will be affected by doing so he would have instigated not only the Crossman he would have also instigated the ID worshippers as well as every citizen who live in that city which means all the Ephesians my friends instigators are troublemakers.
Their main goal is to create trouble. They know how and what to say, even in the church. From time to time, there will be instigators, and these people know what to say. They will not go to the people and tell them, "Do you know the church is involved in gospel work? Do you know the church is involved in Mission Works? Or the church is going to have a family camp? Or the church is having the elderly Ministries?" All these things will not stir up troubles. The moment they sense something will spark a controversy, something that will stir up the anger of the people, they will immediately say, "Do we hear what the church is doing recently? Did you hear what the pastor said the other day?"
Quite some time back during this COVID-19, I preached a message on Elijah restoring the altar of the Lord in First Kings. The altar of the Lord was broken, which means the worship of God has ceased. The people couldn't care less, no one repented. The altar of the Lord, it was so pathetic, and Elijah had to urge the people to repair the altar of the Lord. And then, in application, I spoke about restoring our spiritual altars, how you and I must restore our prayer lives, our services, our worship of God, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. And I gave this illustration: that some people gave the excuse that they cannot come to church for worship services, but they can go to the restaurant to eat. That was to encourage the people to know that they have drifted away from the worship of God; we need to restore the worship of God immediately.
Someone came and said to me, and this person did not even hear my message. He heard from someone else. He said, "I heard from someone else you said this during your message." I replied, "What else did I say in the message? What is the context in which I said those words?" The person replied, "I don't know. I was told only you said these words." That is what instigators would do. They would pick and choose what would stir up troubles. In the multitude of words I said in a 45-minute message, they only pick up this one statement because this statement would stir up trouble or potentially stir up trouble.
There will always be Demetriuses in the church. My concern actually is not so much about the instigators but the people whom they are targeting. My friends, are you someone who is easily manipulated by instigators? Or are you someone who has the spiritual discernment to understand the intent and the motivation of the instigators? I pray that we will all grow in our knowledge of God's word and that we will also be given this spiritual discernment and understanding that there will always be Demetriuses in the church. Be careful, people like this silver smith are able to create a riot; it all started with him.
Now we move on to see the chaos and confusion of the rioters. Obviously, the rioters were unbelievers; they were void of the Holy Spirit and without spiritual discernment. When they heard Demetrius' speech, they were infuriated. They were so angry (verse 28), "And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and they cried out, saying, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!'" So, Demetrius had achieved his goal. He has stirred up the anger of the people. When people are extremely angry, they do foolish things. You can see the chaos and confusion in verse 29, "And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater." Aristarchus was from Thessalonica, a city of Macedonia. This Gaius was not the Gaius in Acts 20:4 because that Gaius was from Derbe, Galatia. This Gaius was from Macedonia.
Today, the ruins of the theater of Ephesus are still preserved. You can see pictures of this theater—a huge semicircle theater. In its prime, this theater could accommodate almost up to 25,000 people. I know some of you have visited the seven churches, and some of you have visited Ephesus too, and you have seen this theater. It could accommodate up to 25,000 people.
When Paul heard what was happening (verse 30), tells us he wanted to go into the theater to rescue his friends. That was the attitude of Paul. He did not count his own life dear to himself, always willing to do everything he could to protect his co-laborers. But the disciples stopped him because they knew by doing so it would endanger his life (verse 31), "And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theater." These chiefs of Asia were prominent individuals around the region of Asia. They were the supporters of Rome. Interestingly, they were friendly to Paul. There was no mention that they were believers. We can safely say that these men felt that Paul was no threat to Rome. They probably would have heard what he preached, and they felt that there was no reason to oppose Christianity or the gospel. So this prominent man even urged him not to go into the theater.
What about the crowd? Some, therefore, cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was confused. And the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. So you can see how chaotic it was. Some people were shouting one thing; others were shouting another thing, and the majority did not even know for what reason they had come together. They did not understand the issue. What can we learn from here? For sure, instigators would know what they want. They would come to get what they want, but there will be other followers who may come for one reason or another reason. The agendas may be different, and the vast majority may not even know the reason why they were there. The attitude is just like monkey see, monkey do. Like in some AGMs when people raise their hands to oppose the motion or they would vote against the proposal, and then when you ask them, "What is the thing you disagree with? Do you disagree with the explanation? Or do you disagree with some part of the proposal? Or do you see a potential danger? Or is there anything unbiblical?" Their response would be, "I don't know." They see the majority raise their hands to disagree; they also raised their hands to disagree. Just like this vast majority who did not even know for what reason they came into the theater. Can you imagine that?
And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand and would have made his defense unto the people. Alexander was a common name. We do not know for sure who this Alexander was since it was a common name, and it all depends on who the Jews were whom he was representing. Let me explain: the Jews were the ones who put him forward. If these were the believing Jews, then Alexander would be a good man; he would be representing the believing Jews. But if these were unbelieving Jews, then Alexander would be their representative to tell the chaotic rioters that the Jews were different from the Christians. You see, the Pagan crowd, they did not see a difference between Christians and Jews. Both worshipped an invisible God; the Jews worshipped an invisible God, the Christians also worshipped an invisible God; both rejected idolatry. So, to the vast majority, basically, they were the same. So if these were the unbelieving Jews, then they had asked Alexander to represent them to speak to the chaotic rioters that they had nothing to do with Paul nor the gospel. So depending on who these Jews were, then we can ascertain who this Alexander was.
But before Alexander could even speak (verse 34), "But when they knew he was a Jew, with one voice about the space of two hours they cried out, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!'" As we said, they saw no difference between Christians and Jews, so immediately they stopped him when they knew that he was a Jew. And you can imagine, completely out of control, for almost two hours they were chanting, they were shouting, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"
Our final point is the calming restoration of the riot. So, we saw the instigator who was very cunning, and then we also saw the chaotic confusion of the rioters. Some were there and yet they did not know for what reason they had come; they did not understand the issue but they just were there. Now we can see how this thing was restored.
Look at verse 35, "And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, 'Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?'" The town clerk was the chief, the city's chief administrator, very similar to our modern-day mayor. He knew that he would be held responsible for what had happened. So somehow he managed to appease the crowd, and then he said to them, "Who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians, the people are all worshippers of Diana? Who doesn't know that Diana is the image which fell down from Jupiter? Perhaps that was the common belief at that time."
"Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly." In other words, if these were undeniable facts, then you ought to be calm and do not do anything foolishly, which means there was nothing Paul the Christian preacher could do that could possibly affect the great goddess Diana since she was the goddess that the whole city, the entire city, would worship, and she was a powerful god. Then there would be nothing the Christian preacher Paul could ever do against this man was terribly wrong.
Today, do you realize that no one worships Diana anymore in this world? But there are millions and millions who have been worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ because he's the one true and living God (verse 37), "For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess." Interestingly, even this Pagan town clerk testified to the Christian character. These Christians whom you were persecuting, whom you were attacking, they were not thieves; they were not robbers, nor did they use insulting or abusing languages. You know, this is what it means to be blameless as Christians.
You and I must live such an exemplary, blameless life, so much so that even the pagans cannot find fault with the way we live our lives. Even this Pagan town clerk would say, "These Christians, they were not thieves; they did not say anything blasphemous." In other words, why are you persecuting them?
Verse 38: Wherefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen which are with him have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies. Let them implead one another. Which means, let them charge one another. As a politician, he said it doesn't matter if it is Demetrius or the craftsmen who had any issue with any man. You should not deal with the matter using riots, but rather you should follow the due process of the law. You have the officials, you have the deputies. Today we may call them the policemen. Let them bring the charges against one another. If anything cannot be settled, then it should be settled in the lawful assembly. Bring it to court, follow the due process of the law.
Finally, he issued a warning to them. Verse 40: "For we are in danger to be called in question for this day's uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse." If we are called by the Roman authorities to give an answer for this riot, you and I would have no good reason to justify ourselves. This is what he meant. That was a stern warning. And then with that, verse 41, when he had spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
So, my friends, even in this riot at Ephesus, although many things had transpired, we saw an instigator and how this wicked, cunning, evil man would stir up the hearts of the people so much so that the entire city would be full of uproar. Because he was able to know that not only the craftsmen but even the idol worshippers, including every citizen in that city, would be stirred up by the words he spoke. He's a very cunning instigator. And then the whole city was really in chaos. There were confusion everywhere. People came with all kinds of reasons, well, all kinds of motivations. Some, the vast majority, did not even know for what reason they were there.
But praise be to God! God was able to restore the chaotic confusion. Everything was restored just in a moment. And God could use a man like the town clerk, who was a pagan, and he was able to talk sense into the chaotic rioters. How God is in control! He was also able to see the testimony of the Christians that these men were not thieves; they were not robbers; they were not blasphemous. You should not be persecuting them. If you have anything against anyone, then use the due process of the law. Ultimately, our God is in control of all things.
So, I pray that all of us, as we study through the book of Acts, we learn to draw valuable lessons like in this case, learn to beware of instigator or instigators even in our midst. And also always look to God. He's in control of all things. He's able to restore calmness in a city that was so chaotic. By the grace of God, let us pray.
Our Father in heaven, we thank thee for this portion of scriptures that we can consider. Indeed, there are so many valuable lessons we can draw from thy precious word. Teach us, O Lord, even as we study through the narratives of the book of Acts, that we are able to learn from thy precious, infallible, and inherent word. Teach thy people through the wonderworking of thy Spirit. Help us that we will be grounded in thy word. And also continue to grant us many such opportunities to come together to learn and to apply thy word in and through our lives. We give thee thanks, and we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.